Managing Maddening Mystical Mayhem - A Mystic Guide

Marista - Lost City

I can't say I read the other guides when they first came out, but they do have a rather decent lead on me in actual time spent up. I cannot imagine they had a huge number of views when being stickied. As far as I'm aware, there's no reason for anyone to act in my favor, and honestly I don't see any reason to assume that. My opinion is biased, but given the amount of effort I put into making this guide detailed and as complete as I could, barring those things I've yet to write up, I would like to think it was an appreciation of that effort.

In any event, though, I'll agree that the plants are certainly useful--perhaps moreso than I myself realized at the outset--but even so I'll maintain my posts as they are on that topic (barring a better description of vital herb's healing once I've played with it more. I have yet to extensively do so since I'll admit my nature does not lend itself to supporting roles), primarily for principle. No matter the potential effectiveness, I think it's important for new players to be aware of the differences between the two classes to at least put a damper on the number of those who would like to make mystics only an alternative healer choice and not much more. Still, I appreciate your feedback on the matter.

In regards to those sins... feh. <.<; I'm honestly not well-geared enough yet to do much before I die to them, but I'm working on that. It's a bit depressing when even my bm has issues with them, though... >.>; Aside from keeping salvation shields up, and demon shell if you're demon, my best suggestion at the moment is to stand near a mob spawn and put up listless blossom so that they cannot just sneak up on you without wasting a lot of chi on shadow teleport, and so that they have to antistun to avoid the risk of being slept while attacking you. As far as actually surviving, I prefer Faith/Belief to domain, simply because it actually takes all the stuns/seals/immobilizes off. Though one other thought there--seals do not stack, so if you have expel, the best time to use it is after a sin has sealed you. Their seal will wear off and you'll be left with physical immunity and no seal. Yeah, I should really write up that genie section... But most of those are interval geared and pretty easy to kill if you survive long enough to catch them in thicket/gale force.

In other news, it seems that absorb soul no longer breaks immune pots or domain. I'll be doing tests to confirm which buffs it ignores and which it does not and update the guide in the near future. Be advised of the change, however, if you have not yet noticed it yourself.

Fenrina - Heavens Tear

Marista - Lost City wrote: »

Lysing
Explodes your non-healing plants to deal negligible damage and debuff all targets within 10 meters of the plant. Not hugely useful, and leveling it only increases range, but not a bad skill. Max at leisure.

Doesn't leveling Lysing decrease the cooldown too? o.o

Marista - Lost City

Fenrina - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Doesn't leveling Lysing decrease the cooldown too? o.o

Ah, yes, my bad. The cooldown was never significant so I never noticed that before, but it would seem you're correct. Fixed. Thank you for pointing this out.

Allondria - Archosaur

I have to say before I even begin that this is probably the most well written guide I have read here on these forums (And I have read most), organization wise and information wise. Very beginner friendly.

The only thing I saw is that you are missing a "t" in the word "plant" under the Spidervine section. (:

I plan to take my Mystic to endgame, and it will be my first endgame class, I hope it will be as good as I hope in a team support/DD role. ^^; Thank you.

Rakshasis - Lost City

From what I hear swirling mists might be a good sin killer. At least when it's leveled.b:laugh

Marista - Lost City

Allondria - Archosaur wrote: »

I have to say before I even begin that this is probably the most well written guide I have read here on these forums (And I have read most), organization wise and information wise. Very beginner friendly.

The only thing I saw is that you are missing a "t" in the word "plant" under the Spidervine section. (:

I plan to take my Mystic to endgame, and it will be my first endgame class, I hope it will be as good as I hope in a team support/DD role. ^^; Thank you.

Thank you. ^_^ Glad to hear that you found it so. And I'll fix that now. Good luck with your mystic; I hope she turns out well.

Rakshasis: What gives you that impression, exactly? I haven't happened onto the Lv 11 book yet, but I find Lv 10 nigh useless. <.<;

In other news, I've been twing on my mystic a bit, and after a week or so more I should have enough experience to compile a preliminary tw section. Still messing with AS to create a comprehensive list of buffs it ignores.

VoItaire - Harshlands

Rakshasis - Lost City wrote: »

From what I hear swirling mists might be a good sin killer. At least when it's leveled.b:laugh

There have actually been a great number of times where a sin was about to die and tried to stealth and I used swirling and it killed them seconds later, but if they're fast enough to pot, then it won't matter. Thicket is a good sin killer though since it can kill them even with deaden.

Zaaper - Dreamweaver

wile u gave a good account of spells ect.. u wear robes and ill pwn u if we are the same lvl. because u seam to be ignoring that pets are based on u. which is why LA is the way to go. also combos rule and u left this out.b:shutup

Zyro - Dreamweaver

I TW alot on my Mystic and I was wondering if I was seeing things or if anyone else has noticed a particularly annoying difference between veno pets and mystic summons. The catapult kills them....

I could be wrong and getting coincidental aoe death on my summons but I would swear that I have seen on numerous occasions that I would send devil in to stun someone who was standing near the cata and it would kill my summon in a single hit. I know for a fact that the defensive towers kill my summons as I would expect them to but the catapults do not harm veno pets according to my venomancer guildmates. I have also charged a cata barb in attempt to knock them back or use gale force and have had salvation in tow buffing me when suddenly she would die instantly as i reached the barb leaving me in a much more difficult situation. the cata barb and I were alone at the time and the barb was more interested in running right past me than fighting so i have strong doubts he killed the summon himself.

If I am wrong in this do let me know but this is proving quite deadly to me as I am suddenly without my salvation right when I need it most (charging the enemy front lines)

Rakshasis - Lost City

Man if it's true, it's a serious glitch they need to fix. b:angry

Kai_Umi - Heavens Tear

On the whole it's also perhaps your hardest hitting non-ulti except absorb soul but costs 30 chi,

This made me laugh b:chuckle

VoItaire - Harshlands

Zaaper - Dreamweaver wrote: »

wile u gave a good account of spells ect.. u wear robes and ill pwn u if we are the same lvl. because u seam to be ignoring that pets are based on u. which is why LA is the way to go. also combos rule and u left this out.b:shutup

Actually LA magic chars are at a disadvantage to other casters because one, they have less mag def than normal which means they take more dmg, and 2, they have less matk than normal which means they do less dmg. From my experience absorb soul still one shot LA chars when I was at your lvl. Also, because pets are based on your, they will have less dmg if you go LA, and even worse they don't get the crit bonus that LA gets. I really don't recommend LA build because it's such a horrible armor type, but if it works for you then that's good.

ivan0v

This is awesome Guide. I really enjoyed it.

Hope to be able to use all of the stuff I learned to the fullest

Cheers,

Namari - Dreamweaver

VoItaire - Harshlands wrote: »

Actually LA magic chars are at a disadvantage to other casters because one, they have less mag def than normal which means they take more dmg, and 2, they have less matk than normal which means they do less dmg. From my experience absorb soul still one shot LA chars when I was at your lvl. Also, because pets are based on your, they will have less dmg if you go LA, and even worse they don't get the crit bonus that LA gets. I really don't recommend LA build because it's such a horrible armor type, but if it works for you then that's good.

I was an LA wizzie, and it was nice for a little bit, but after getting one-shot by Zimo in 59 (granted, that's just the fault of the boss herself; her metal attack spikes at times and hurts even as AA) at lvl 8x, I went semi-pure at 9x (fully pure at 99--I had a decent amount of vit before then), and I couldn't believe how much damage I was missing out on. So when I made my psy, I went pure magic from the jump and never went back (she also has 14% crit in the process). Did the same with my mystic, which, at 92 has more hp than my psy does at 101, but TT90 gives a crapton of hp.

Whatever floats your boat, but archers even say that LA is terribad, and they're forced to wear it.b:chuckle

IAetius - Dreamweaver

Marista - Lost City wrote: »

. Without amp and purge, they certainly cannot debuff as well as a venomancer, nor are summons designed to hold agro or tank things, and without a reliable purify or heal over time, they cannot heal as well as a cleric.

Mystic heal over time is their Vital Herb. It works very well and the plant actually can last a long time as well. It's not as squishy as my pets.

On top of that we do not have BB or any of that but we have Falling Petals which is great for when someone is going to pull and on top of that it lasts as a buff for so long that you can put it on an entire squad before any pulls or when a boss that AoE's is coming.

Personally my Mystic can heal just as well as a cleric. Yes I do NOT have BB but and I do not have buffs but it's amazing that when people squad with me as a single healer they are amazed at what a Mystic can do. Mystics are a powerful DD and what makes this class so unique is that I can heal just as well as a cleric AND I can be doing damage at the same time. I've healed Delta, FB 99, Lunar, etc.

Mystics are very powerful healers. All that matters is the nub playing on the other side of the computer screen.

MrMelvin - Heavens Tear

IAetius - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Mystics are very powerful healers. All that matters is the nub playing on the other side of the computer screen.

I was just having a conversation regarding Mystic as solo healers. When would you say mystic come into their own as a solo healer? My vital is maxed for my level (7) and Break & Petals are both maxed but I don't feel as confident as a healer as I do on my cleric. Am I just being silly? I don't really want to say "sure I'll solo heal this instance" and end up failing.

IAetius - Dreamweaver

MrMelvin - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I was just having a conversation regarding Mystic as solo healers. When would you say mystic come into their own as a solo healer? My vital is maxed for my level (7) and Break & Petals are both maxed but I don't feel as confident as a healer as I do on my cleric. Am I just being silly? I don't really want to say "sure I'll solo heal this instance" and end up failing.

Nah. In my opinion Clerics heal better then Mystic's when both are under lvl 70 and that's because Mystics do not have buffs and their healing skills are low. But once you reach lvl 70+ you should be ready to attempt solo healing. (I would only recommend for players who know what they are doing and are willing to use plants + falling petals + normal heal skills). I have been with a lot of Mystics that could solo heal FB 69 on their Mystic and solo heal everything beyond that point.

Mystic's in FC should be able to heal as soon as they start providing you have a squad that is not fail. I have done FC in my 80's with a BM, Seeker, and even a Veno puller and they turned out just fine. However there are instances where even if the squad had a cleric everyone would most likely have died either way.

I really enjoy being a Mystic and when you can experiment with it and find out the best way for you to heal. On pulls and such when I did not have my lvl 11 salvation for the AoE Shield I would place it on the puller and the highest DD output in squad. I would also make sure the entire squad had on falling petals. What's nice about FC is that when you reach the point where the puller brings the mobs you set up both of your healing plants (this way Vital Herb begins to do an aoe stacking heal) Once that is done and Puller is close put the salvation's shield on the puller one last time and focus single heals where needed.

That is one of my methods but you can do more crazy things with different types of squad set ups. (For example some squads I go with like me to put my plants up and then AoE instead of heal) The reason for this is when you get your 3 sparks if you use Vital Herb + Healing Herb + Thicket it will seal/ freeze the mobs for a long period of time which actually helps reduce the amount of damage being dealt to the squad.

If you are uncomfortable for the time being in my opinion wait until you are 90+ because at that point you are more than capable of solo healing FC without any problems at all. Once you do your 3rd one you'll see how fun it is to be a solo healing Mystic. If you enjoy your cleric then you will enjoy this class as a healer as well. b:thanks

MrMelvin - Heavens Tear

I don't think I will start to solo heal in FF until level 80 since I'm missing around -9% chan right now at 75 (sleeves of sea captain and TT80 sword until 85 gold FF wand) but I will give it a go. I think I need to level up healing herb, I left mine at level 1 since I was told it is completely useless but maybe I'll try the mixture some more.

I would say right now I am excited to get into FF as a mystic and really looking forward to the 90+ game play, I would have never thought to put Petals on everyone on the pulls or salvation buff on highest DD and Barb (I would also salvation tank regardless)

I guess its just coming down to now I need to get in FF and actually solo heal and pray that I don't fail it lol but thanks for the advice!

IAetius - Dreamweaver

What really helps is doing a double Mystic healing in FC. It helps to have someone else in squad and share ideas and get used to healing.

I wish you luck though and I hope you enjoy your Mystic!

Namari - Dreamweaver

I was conned into being solo healer as a mystic in namely bh 79. My first time I was like level 85. I was traumatized, despite it going very well. Then recently in 79, I was like "oh hey, can we have cler--oh wait...I'm sole healer again..."

Personally, I don't like it. Am I capable of solo healing? Yes. But I'm nervous at times; I'm scared that I'll **** something up and then get called "fail mystic". You know, the same heat that clerics get when they miss a purify in 69.

For the record, despite me having sage Break, I do not ever want to solo heal a bh/fb 69. Ever. Props to whoever does.

But yeah, offer to solo heal when you're most comfortable. In my case, I don't seem to have much choice. b:laugh

Marista - Lost City

Namari's reason is the reason I've been so adamant in stressing the differences between clerics and mystics here. To be blunt, even if we can solo heal some things, that is not the impression I want to give. If you feel comfortable doing so, then nothing is stopping you, but in the end mystics are not limited to the healing role, and I will do everything in my power to prevent us from being typecast as healers.

There are as many who don't want to heal as do, I'm certain, and given that the class is hardly suited to only that, I will retain my position. Sadly, despite doing so the results of the other side of the spectrum have led to my playing my mystic less than usual because I refuse to do frost where I'm expected to be the primary healer or primarily a healer. It's really been hurting my interest in playing the class. However, I promise that I will return and make the promised updates/additions to this guide once I get the motivation to finish lving and play with my good genies and gear to ascertain the proper use of the former.

Just on a side note though, the vital herb argument isn't one I'm going to go for. It's more useful than I initially thought, but as the only plant that does not have a chance to resist damage, it's extremely vulnerable to anything that aoes, and so not really reliable in many situations.

Beyond that, the damage taken in frost or BH is somewhat laughable compared to a serious instance. I have a very hard time believing any mystic could solo heal, say, 3-2 emperor unless the tank was pretty much well enough geared to barely need heals. In those situations, a mystic will never compare to a cleric in terms of healing--aoes will kill your vital herb if it's close enough to be healing the tank, and without cleric buffs, you'll be far more vulnerable to those same aoes and to random agro, never mind the extra damage taken by the tank. Falling petals won't help you if emperor turns around and oneshots you. It might not matter in frost because nothing in frost seriously hurts, but frost is pretty much easy mode.

And that's without considering that cleric buffs as much as purify are a counter to debuffs because of the way things stack. A debuff that nearly zeroes your mdef (think prisoners of heaven in SoT) as one example is far less deadly if you have magic shell, whilst without it, the second hit of magic from something like that hits hard as hell. I've had my veno oneshot by trying to tank it without buffs before. There are things mystics can heal, but those things are limited, and I refuse, in addition to what I've said above, to lie by saying that they're as good as a cleric in a serious situation.

As to LA, I don't honestly feel any need to justify that with a response beyond what Voltaire has said. LA is a useless build for magic classes in the age of good refines and shards being readily available. I only included it for the sake of completeness.

Sabatia - Lost City

Marista for president! ;D

Very well done, I must say I'm impressed. Well structured and well-written , most of the same ideas I had about the class but also picked up a few new things. Thanks for taking the time to type this out. =P

RedFux - Lost City

I just noticed today that we have few new skills in the tree. Any comments on these?

MrMelvin - Heavens Tear

IAetius - Dreamweaver wrote: »

What really helps is doing a double Mystic healing in FC. It helps to have someone else in squad and share ideas and get used to healing.

I wish you luck though and I hope you enjoy your Mystic!

I learnt the hard way! Well not exactly hard but lets just say there was a cleric who didn't heal, went afk melee hitting bosses and then was shocked she got kicked. But I have to say I find it more fun healing on my mystic to cleric. I have only fully solo healed FF twice and both squads have said I was awesome and the only way people die was getting slashed

ZackMystic - Harshlands

Awesome guide, though I'm a 78 myself this guide has given me much better details of whether to go sage or demon, thx.

Namari - Dreamweaver

RedFux - Lost City wrote: »

I just noticed today that we have few new skills in the tree. Any comments on these?

Oh, you mean our 100 skills? I wants them all.

BRB, gonna rob a bank, k? b:chuckle

Sanna - Momaganon

I always thought these guides should have complete lists of where to get sage and demon skills

Marista - Lost City

Those skills are not new--I've had them listed from day one. =P

But as to the Lv 11 books, since that is an easy matter to handle, I've appended which book each skill comes from to the skill description. Tell me if I messed anything up.

Gaishi - Harshlands

As a mystic with some experience let my say that Resurrect is certainly not something you should max asap. I mean I can understand why you'd say so but impo Resurrect costs way to much mp to just level all willy nilly. It's a good spell but the Mystic is already wasting a **** ton of mp on other stuff. Plus it makes rezzing slower in instances because the mystic has to regain it's mp to keep using the skill.

jaanyoo

Gaishi - Harshlands wrote: »

As a mystic with some experience let my say that Resurrect is certainly not something you should max asap. I mean I can understand why you'd say so but impo Resurrect costs way to much mp to just level all willy nilly. It's a good spell but the Mystic is already wasting a **** ton of mp on other stuff. Plus it makes rezzing slower in instances because the mystic has to regain it's mp to keep using the skill.

IMO at lvl 75 (when Herb Yuanxiao becomes available [3 tokens for 50 herb yuanxiao]) MP cost is not something you care about as much.
Yes mystics do use up Alot of MP, but so do other caster classes when they are spamming skills.

In any instance I always res buff everyone regardless of mp cost (at most 3 herb yuanxiao to res buff squad of 6) , as the cleric may not always be available to quickly revive someone.
and clerics revive can be cast over mystics resurect (if cleric's got lvl 11 revive, lets say)

The new skills in the tree are the lvl 79 skills (they were not shown previously)

@ OP : Kudos for the very nice guide, it's very well written b:victory